Climate Change Act 2008 - key documents
The Climate Change Bill was introduced into Parliament on 14 November 2007 and became law on 26th November 2008. Copies of the Climate Change Act 2008 can be obtained via the OPSI website:
Concordat
The Concordat on the Climate Change Act sets out the working practices between the four administrations (HM Government, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive) for the overall Act.
- Concordat (PDF 150 KB)
Key past milestones
- March 2007: draft Climate Change Bill published for public consultation and Parliamentary scrutiny
- 29 October 2007: Government paper published setting out changes to the Bill in response to findings of consultation/scrutiny
- November 2007: Bill introduced to Parliament (House of Lords)
- End March 2008: Lords stages concluded
- July 2008: Commons committee stage concluded
- 7 October 2008: interim advice on the 2050 target from the Committee on Climate Change published
- 28 October: remaining Commons stages followed by “ping pong” between both Houses
- 17 November: Lords consideration of Commons amendments made to the Bill
- 18 November: Commons consideration of Lords amendments - final stage of Parliamentary passage
- 26 November 2008: Royal Assent
Recent changes and updates
- Outcome of final Parliamentary stages (Nov 2008) (PDF 20 KB)
- Outcome of Commons Report and Third Reading stages (October 2008) (PDF 20 KB)
- Outcome of Commons Committee Stage (July 2008) (PDF 20 KB)
- Partial Impact Assessment of powers to require charges for single-use carrier bags, June 2008 (PDF 100 KB)
- Outcome of the second reading debate (9 June 2008) (PDF 20 KB)
- Final Impact Assessment, April 2008 (PDF 600 KB)
- Annex to the Final Impact Assessment: corporate reporting clause (PDF 40 KB)
- Government amendments 18 February 2008 (PDF 20 KB)
Earlier information
The draft Bill was published on 13 March 2007 for pre-legislative scrutiny and public consultation. On 29 October 2007 the Government published its response to the parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation in the Command Paper Taking Forward the UK Climate Change Bill. The Command Paper set out how the Climate Change Bill would be strengthened and made more transparent.
- Command Paper: Taking Forward the UK Climate Change Bill (on TSO Official Documents website)
- Speech by Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP - Britain’s Low Carbon Future: what the Climate Change Bill means for our daily lives (29 October 2007)
- Written Ministerial Statement (29 October 2007)
- Summary of responses to the public consultation on the draft Climate Change Bill (PDF 100 KB)
- Pre-legislative scrutiny findings (on UK Parliament website):
- Report of the Joint Committee (PDF 1 MB)
- Report of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (PDF 350 KB)
- Report of the Environmental Audit Committee (PDF 2 MB)
Impact assessments and analysis
- Impact Assessment at introduction into Parliament (House of Lords), November 2007(PDF 200 KB)
- Macro analysis of long run costs of climate change mitigation targets – examining the impacts set by the Bill's emission reduction targets
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Page last modified: 2 December 2008
Page published: 24 June 2008